O2 XDA IIs Pocket PC Phone Review

The new o2 XDA IIs is a Pocket PC with a built-in mobile phone. Run on the Second Edition of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition operating system. The new model adds Wi-Fi (802.11b) to its predecessor’s Bluetooth and infrared, bringing it right up to date as far as wireless connectivity is concerned. These features coupled with a built-in digital camera make the XDA IIs a feature packed handset.

The XDA IIs has had many new changes from the outgoing XDA II, with the two most important ones possibly being the addition of wireless LAN capability, better known as Wi-Fi, as well as a physical keyboard that slides out from behind the device. Wi-Fi (802.11b) support will be a boon for travelling business people, as it will allow them to bypass the GSM/GPRS network altogether and use wireless hotspots to connect straight to the internet, the same way you may through a laptop computer. The keyboard is a convenient addition, although it will gain its fair share of followers and critics due to its miniscule size.

Designed to be the ultimate handheld device for work or leisure use, the O2 XDA IIs provides the ‘X-factor’ that keeps you always connected and lets you get things done no matter where you are. As one of the most powerful handhelds on the market, the Xda IIs gives you more control over the way you work and play.

Other extra changes since the XDA II include the addition of the fourth GSM band, making the XDA IIs a quad-band GSM device, able to work in any GSM network anywhere; a larger battery resulting in longer standby times and talk times, and a ROM upgrade bringing total storage memory up to 96 megabytes of read-only memory, with 44 megabytes available for the user. The rest of the hardware, including the Intel Xscale PXA263 400MHz processor, remain unchanged. Finally, Windows Mobile 2003 has been refreshed with Second Edition for various minor improvements and bug fixes.

Review By Cnet

Running on Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 SE, the Xda IIs allows users to orientate between landscape and portrait view on-the-fly. The screen’s QVGA resolution has somewhat limited its usefulness. Still, this welcomed feature proves handy for Web surfing or when editing spreadsheets. The 65k-color display is sufficiently bright and well-saturated. Even with the brightness set at mid level, we have no issues viewing it outdoors.

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Review By Infosyncworld

Welcome to wireless Nirvana: the XDA IIs offers quad-band GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 MHz with GPRS Class 8 and 10, Blueooth and Wi-Fi 802.11b. Signal reception for all three radios proved on average very good, and O2 thankfully decided to include a new Bluetooth stack rather than the profile-anemic atrocity found in the XDA II. Profiles abound, and for Wi-Fi the XDA IIs supports both WEP and WPA, as well as 802.1x for added security - a boon for both enterprise users and security-conscious consumers.

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Review By Phoneyworld

The XDA IIs is similar in looks to the XDA II, however since we have not reviewed that one , I will just give a brief summary of the physical aspects of the XDA III (IIs / III ; same thing remember). The dimensions are a comfortable 71.6 (W) x 125 (L) x 18.7 (T) mm weighing approximately 210 grams. The largest element of the handset or PDA is of course the huge display. The 16 bit 3.5″ Transflective 65,536 colour LCD itself is of 240 x 320 pixels, touch sensitive of course. The display is extremely sharp and clear and manages to give a good result even in bright sunlight (it is TFT right!). Unfortunately though the Operating system allows a higher resolution of 640 x 480, its not supported by the hardware of the XDA IIs. Then again the trade off of size versus resolution needs some though and I think its just about perfect right now. The XDA III has two buttons at the top which are for the Calendar and Contact book.

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